His gaze fell on the snowy woods outside the window, his fingers fiddling with the bird’s head, his face expressionless, looking somewhat bored.

　　No. 922 the proctor was furiously complaining: “Damn it, he peed on me four times on the way here! Every time I say something, he gets startled and pees, say another thing, he gets startled and pees again!”

　　No. 154 came in, the slip of paper in his hand rustling loudly: “Little girl! You wrote it yourself, little girl!”

　　His coffin-like face finally couldn’t hold it anymore. If you gave him a hundred times the courage, he’d dare to shove that little note right in 001’s face.

　　But unfortunately, he didn’t dare.

　　However, after the two of them cursed for a while, they realized the person in the armchair gave no response, his gaze still heavy as it fell outside the window.

　　“Boss? Boss?” 922 tried calling twice, finally having to raise his voice: “James Carter!”

　　That 001 gentleman finally snapped out of it.

　　922 pushed 154 forward a step and slipped away himself, eight zhang away.

　　154: “……”

　　Damn.

　　James Carter swept his gaze between the two of them: “I zoned out and didn’t catch that, want to complain again?”

　　154 shook his head: “Forget it, forget it.”

　　922 awkwardly stepped forward: “Boss… what’s up with you?”

　　James Carter raised an eyebrow: “What kind of nonsense question is that?”

　　“No… I just feel like you seem to be in a bad mood,” said 922.

　　“Am I?”

　　“A little… yeah.” 922 considered, “Because you got dragged here to proctor?”

　　“No.”

　　“Then why are you…” 154 muttered.

　　“Speak up, I didn’t catch the last part,” James Carter shot him a glance.

　　When his dark eyes stared at someone, it always made people uneasy. Even though 154 and 922 had followed him for almost three years, they still weren’t used to it.

　　154 shrank back half a step, cleared his throat and said, “I mean… you’re in a good mood, so why drag someone who didn’t break the rules in here? Isn’t that a bit against the regulations?”

　　James Carter said, “I’m following the rules. Didn’t you see the ‘ink’ on his hand?”

　　154 was stunned for a moment: “Oh, I didn’t look closely…”

　　James Carter stroked the black bird’s head, saying, “Besides…”

　　922 and 154 perked up their ears.

　　But their boss’s “besides” dragged on for about ten minutes, and he never finished the sentence.

　　After a long while, he finally said, “Forget it, it’s nothing.”

　　“……”

　　The two subordinates almost choked, but didn’t dare rebel, and slunk away dejectedly.

　　……

　　On the third floor of the villa, there was a small attic with a wall of white screens, each corresponding to a solitary confinement room.

　　The scenes experienced by those in solitary would be projected here; in a way, you could see many people’s secrets here.

　　But at this moment, the room was locked with a heavy lock, and no one came to peek.

　　Two screens were lit up, one for the bald man’s room, one for Brian Baker’s room.

　　On the screen showing the bald man, the camera was blurred with blood, and through that red layer, you could vaguely see a figure hanging by the shoulders, and a deathly pale face.

　　But Brian Baker’s screen was completely blank.

　　That screen showed the room in its original state: three mirrors, a wall clock, a wooden table and a wooden stool, nothing else.

　　……

　　Three hours later, No. 154 came with the key to open the solitary room door.

　　He was ready to have an arm or leg fly at his face, but as soon as the lock was removed, he froze.

　　Because there was nothing in the solitary room, and the cold-faced handsome guy who’d been locked up was already asleep on the table.

　　His elbow covered his face, just like a real high school student dozing off in class.

　　The sound of 154 entering finally woke him.

　　He frowned, half-opened his eyes, glanced at 154 and closed them again, his face full of sleepiness and impatience. After a moment, he straightened up and leaned back in the chair, asking, “Is it over?”

　　154: “………………………………”

　　Maybe you should sleep a bit longer???????

Chapter 4: Back to the Cell┃Are you planning to live here?

　　Brian Baker came out of solitary, the corridor was silent.

　　The bald man across the way was quiet, blood from his room seeping everywhere.

　　He frowned in distaste, stepped around the blood and walked out.

　　He hadn’t gone far when he suddenly stopped.

　　A strange, ever-present feeling of being watched clung to him, as if something was peering down, lifeless eyes quietly staring at him.

　　Brian Baker looked up.

　　Above was a white ceiling, with nothing but a dim lamp.

　　……

　　“Damn, shit! Almost overslept and broke the rules, that damned coffin face actually didn’t—” Someone hurried down from upstairs, and as soon as they turned the corner, their muttering abruptly stopped.

　　“You! Ahem, you’re out?”

　　Brian Baker withdrew his gaze from the ceiling.

　　The newcomer was proctor No. 922.

　　Seeing Brian Baker, he immediately switched to an official tone, said “excuse me,” and strode to the end of the corridor, opening the door that was oozing blood.

　　A moment later, the bald man was released.

　　922 was half-carrying the limp middle-aged man, walking like someone with hemiplegia.

　　“Why are you still here?” he asked.